


come and rest your bones with me

by aletterinthenameofsanity



Series: some stupid noble reason [6]
Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Aromantic Asexual Padma Patil, Aromantic Parvati Patil, Asexual Character, Asexual Harry Potter, Bisexual Character, Character Study, F/F, F/M, Hindu Character, Hogwarts Inter-House Friendships, Japanese Character(s), Japanese Harry Potter, Lesbian Character, Multi, Muslim Luna, Padma Luna and Blaise are in a polyplatonic relationship, People stereotyping you leads to people underestimating you, Queerplatonic Relationships, Racism, Spitefic, Stereotypes, Women Being Awesome, also Voldemort died in Godric's Hallow, also fuck the Nagini reveal, and that leads to you winning, being aromantic/asexual does NOT make you a cold person, everyone's POC and we're respecting their backgrounds, jkr can fight me right here right now, so there is no Voldemort returning in this 'verse, without Horcruxes
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-14
Updated: 2019-01-14
Packaged: 2019-09-19 18:35:00
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,799
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17006979
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/aletterinthenameofsanity/pseuds/aletterinthenameofsanity
Summary: When Harry Potter sorts into Slytherin, Parvati hears whispers.He should have been a Ravenclaw, she hears, He’s gotta be a smart kid, right?She recognizes the way that people underestimate Harry Potter, the way they downplay his bravery and cunning and stubbornness in favor of focusing on his brain, his grades.Sure, he may be the Chosen One, the Boy Who Lived, but he is expected to be a very certain kind of Chosen One. He is expected to be a smart one, a brilliant one, not a brave one or a valiant one.She knows their expectations of Harry just as well as she knows the expectations that she and Padma and Cho and every other Asian kid get. It’s the same thing everybody expect when they see the slant of Remus Lupin’s eyes, the turban Parvati’s father wears, the sari wrapped around her mother’s body.





	come and rest your bones with me

**Author's Note:**

  * For [ShanaStoryteller](https://archiveofourown.org/users/ShanaStoryteller/gifts).



> Title is from "Sunday Morning" by Maroon 5.
> 
>  
> 
> Featuring Japanese, Asexual Harry Potter, Lesbian, Hindu Parvati Patil, Black, Bisexual Lavender Brown, Aromantic/Asexual, Hindu Padma Patil, Muslim Luna Lovegood, Muslim Blaise Zabini, and Chinese Remus Lupin.

_Women like you drown oceans._

**_-rupi kaur_ **

 

When Harry Potter sorts into Slytherin, Parvati hears whispers.

 _He should have been a Ravenclaw,_ she hears,  _He’s gotta be a smart kid, right?_

She recognizes the way that people underestimate Harry Potter, the way they downplay his bravery and cunning and stubbornness in favor of focusing on his brain, his grades.

Sure, he may be the Chosen One, the Boy Who Lived, but he is expected to be a very certain kind of Chosen One. He is expected to be a  _smart_ one, a brilliant one, not a brave one or a valiant one.

She knows their expectations of Harry just as well as she knows the expectations that she and Padma and Cho and every other Asian kid get. It’s the same thing everybody expect when they see the slant of Remus Lupin’s eyes, the turban Parvati’s father wears, the sari wrapped around her mother’s body. It’s in centuries of self-protection by surrender, of non-violent protest and Buddhist values and a drive to be brilliant because when your culture has been taken the only way you know how to protect yourself is to be  _better_ than those that seek to destroy you-

She recognizes that same desire to be better in Harry Potter’s eyes.

-

Parvati goes up to Harry Potter during lunch one day. He's sitting at the very end of the Slytherin table, the Bulstrode daughter attached to his side like always. She's a small, pudgy girl who will probably never be described as ‘pretty.’ Parvati can picture, though, the clothing that would complement the girl's dark eyes and frizzy hair. She knows the colors and textures that would turn such a plain girl into a handsome one, maybe even a  _beautiful_ one.

(She knows, though, that the Bulstrode heir needs no help in anything else. The pureblood gossip chain describe the girl as clever, as cunning, as everything Slytherins are supposed to be. Her Sorting has left no doubt as to the veracity of such rumors.)

Harry Potter, on the other hand, needs more than just fashion advice. He needs someone to guide him in the ways of the Wizarding World, and she and Padma are from two ancient Pureblood Houses, the Patils and the Chopras. She can help him in navigating this world, sure to be confusing to someone raised in the Muggle world.

(And besides, he really looks like he could use more than just one friend.)

“Hi,” Harry says, smile trusting and open. She has no idea how he is surviving in Slytherin without an automatic guard.

“Nice to meet you,” she says, “I’m Parvati Patil, and I’m in Gryffindor. Mind if I sit with you?”

Millicent’s gaze is suspicious, but when Harry glances at her she nods her approval. Parvati feels like she has passed some kind of test and actually feels kind of proud.

(Parvati will learn that Harry has plenty of guards, but that Millicent makes him feel safe like no one in his life ever has. Around her, his first friend, he doesn't have to feel worried.)

-

People underestimate Padma and Parvati in different ways. They think Padma is weak, her only strength book smarts. They think she’ll cower in a fight, that she is nothing but memorized facts and correct essay answers. They think Parvati is all gossip and no brain. They think her superstitious to a fault, girly and full of fluff.

(Parvati and Padma learn at a young age that people will find any reason they see fit to stereotype and degrade them. They learn that to look different, to belong to a different culture, means people will assume things about them that probably won't be true.

And they learn how to use this to their advantage.)

-

Padma Patil is used to being overlooked.

She’s the studious nerd, the quiet Indian girl who wears plain blue button-downs and slacks from as early an age as she can manage. She speaks in a firm but quiet tone, fulfills most stereotypes of an Asian kid in Ravenclaw.

Her sister is the loud one, the fashionable one, the strong and stubborn one. Parvati’s the one people look at, if they even deign to look at all.

Padma has learned to use it to her advantage. If people overlook you, they underestimate you. They doubt the strength of your knowledge, your capability to dig around and find exactly what you want- no matter how morally dubious it may end up being.

Padma finds it fascinating just what one person can learn if they just spend enough time in the library.

-

During Spring, Harry finds the spell  _colorum macula_ buried in the back of the library. He brings it to one of their study sessions, and presents it to the girls.

“You can use this for Holi, right?” he asks, and Padma recognizes the desperation for approval in his eyes.

She smiles. “Of course. Thanks, Hari.”

Millicent smiles from her back spot on the window seat. “Great idea, Harry,” she says, uncharacteristically soft.

“Do you think we could even adjust that to prank the boys?” Lavender asks, priorities straight. “They’re always making fun of Parvati and I’s nail varnish, and I think they need to learn a lesson.”

Millicent smirks, smile going sharp and dangerous. “That could definitely be arranged, Brown.”

Padma hides a smile- it's rather useful to have a Slytherin on the team, isn't it?

-

It's their first year and they're in Transfiguration. Draco Malfoy is babbling nonsense (as usual), and normally Parvati is set to ignore it. After all, he may be the Malfoy heir, but she is the heir to the Patil-Chopra House. Her influence over Indian and British international relations and internal politics is thrice the amount the little Malfoy kid will ever possibly gain.

“Your kind screwed us over in the Wizarding War,” Draco sneers, and Parvati and Lavender both flinch forward but someone else gets there first.

Millicent Bulstrode socks him in the jaw.

“Ten points from Slytherin,” Professor McGonagall says, and Parvati is ready to protest, but then she sees the glint in her Head of House's eyes.

Sure enough, the Professor calls on Millicent to hang back after class. Parvati, Harry, and Lavender all do the same, refusing to budge from the side of the girl who refused to back down from theirs.

“Have a biscuit, Miss Bulstrode,” Professor McGonagall says.

Millicent’s eyes narrow in suspicion, but she complies anyway. And Parvati has to hide a smile.

-

They call Millicent  _troll,_ they sneer Padma and Parvati as they say  _brownie_ and  _curry muncher_. They sling slurs like  _gook_ and  _jap_ at Harry and  _nigger_ at Lavender as easily as they do  _mudblood._

Padma isn't a lion. She isn't loud, or brave, or stubborn.

But she  _is_ honorable. She is clever, and smart. She knows the best answers are not often the first ones people think of, and she knows how to hunt down answers that she does not know herself.

And no matter how much people call her  _frigid_ ,  _heartless,_ and  _cold,_ she loves her sister and (practically adopted) brother. And she cares about who they care about. Millicent and Lavender are hers just as much as they are her siblings’.

And she won’t stand for them to be insulted.

Soon, bullies show up with rainbow colored hair.

“You do not hurt the people I care about,” Padma hisses, quiet and dangerous as the snake on the Chopra house crest.

Ravenclaws are known for their integrity and wisdom, but they’re also known for their creativity and dedication to open-mindedness. Bigots do not work well with Ravenclaw values.

-

Parvati sees Lavender Brown, sees the crinkle of her dark curls and her red-painted nails and her curves that have developed since the beginning of fourth year. She admires Lavender’s fast mouth and brilliant eyes and love of fashion. Lavender has been her best friend for years; they share all kinds of interests, from divination to gossip to fashion.

It’s only inevitable that Parvati falls in love, isn’t it?

-

Well, maybe it isn't  _that_ inevitable, they guess.

-

Padma doesn't ever fall in love, after all. She never feels a sickly sweet rush as she looks at someone, the desire to kiss and cuddle and fuck someone else. She has no craving for romance or sex, no need for the kind of intimacy that is brought on by romance.

She has Harry and Parvati to cuddle with, Millicent to play cards with, Lavender to varnish her nails. She has a wealth of friends to sleepover with, a support system of family and allies. She doesn't need a lover.

(This is another thing that will mark her as strange to those who don't know her, another thing that people will use to judge her. They will call her cold, unfeeling, for not desiring things like this.

Her family and friends will always love her.)

-

Padma finds Harry curled up on their sofa early in the morning, a few days into winter break. He has a photo of his girlfriend- Millicent Bulstrode, the clever half-blood who has stuck by Harry's side for five years now- in his lap, and there are tears in his eyes.

“They were right,” he says, “I really am a freak.”

She slides onto the sofa next to him, shifting so that she is sitting with her legs crossed in front of him. She placed a comforting hand on his leg. “They're wrong,” she says, “Whatever you think, you're not a freak.”

“I…” Harry swallows, his Adam's Apple bobbing. “I don't feel anything when I think about her. I mean, I want to kiss Millie, and cuddle and hug her, but I don't want to have sex with her. She's the most beautiful girl I know, but I have no desire to do anything involving the, you know, nether regions.”

“I fucking love her, ‘Ma, but I can't give her what she deserves.”

“If she loves you,” Padma says, “She'll accept you.” Simple as that.

“It can’t be that easy,” Harry protests.

“Harry, look at me,” Padma says, offering a hand to him. He takes it just as he always does, entwining their fingers together. “Do you accept me?”

“Of course I do,” he says immediately, raising a confused eyebrow. “You’re one of my best friends.”

“Harry, I don’t want sex  _or_ romance, and yet you still love and accept me. I know Millicent will think the same way about you.”

Harry takes a deep breath. “I sure hope so. ‘Ma, she’s the most beautiful, most wonderful girl I’ve ever met.” Then he seems to realize what he’s said, and hastily amends: “No offense, of course.”

Padma laughs. “None taken,  _tampi._ ”

-

“You are beautiful,” Parvati hears Harry say to the first friend he ever had, his date to the Yule Ball, the girl he loves, “And fuck anyone who says otherwise.”

“You're ridiculous, Specs,” Millicent says, but Parvati can hear the pride in her voice. It’s confirmed a moment later when Millicent leans in and presses a kiss to Harry’s lips.

Something fierce and hot rises in Parvati’s chest, a desire to protect the two of them. They have been two of her best friends for ages- the idea that someone could hurt one of them is a horrible one.

She know she will defend them 'til the day she dies.

-

Millicent and Harry kiss like first loves, gentle and sweet. Parvati and Lavender kiss passionate and rough, leaving swollen lips and hickies in their wake.

Padma doesn't kiss anyone. Instead, she finds herself curled up in the corners of libraries, sandals kicked off by the edge of the window seat and a muggle hoodie Harry bought for her tucked around her shoulders.

She looks up at some point during fall of fifth year to find a girl in front of her with dark almond-shaped eyes, olive skin, and a few strands of strangely white-blond hair poking out from under a star-stained hijab. The girl is staring at her, eyes wide and curious.

“You’re infested with Nargles,” Luna Lovegood says.

“They're not real,” Padma says, placing a bookmark in her page and closing her book.

Luna blinks. “They’re as real as any other sort of magic," she says, voice soft.

Padma purses her lips but she does smile. There's something wonderful about someone with that kind of confidence in the impossible.

-

Blaise Zabini keeps ending up in the library at the same time as Padma and Luna. It's so strange to Padma to see the difference between how he acts in public versus how he acts in the library with Luna- in public, he is stoic and sharp, the perfect Slytherin heir, while here with Luna his smiles are soft and his gaze gentle. He is kind with Luna, listening to her every word with a complete seriousness.

Eventually Padma works up the courage to ask, but Luna just giggles. “He’s my betrothed,” she says, “And the poor dragon's a real softy, don't let him fool you.”

"Don't let her lie to you," Blaise says, eyebrow arched coolly, but Padma just laughs along with Luna.

"I've met you, Zabini," Padma says, "I know your heart's soft and squishy as a fleshwater plimpy."

"I take offense to that, Patil," Blaise says, but his smile curves in a teasing way and she knows he's not being serious. 

-

It comes time for the Winter Dance (after the success of last year's Yule Ball and Triwizard Tournament, the school had decided to make the tournament a biannual event, with a winter dance every year in between) and just like last year, Parvati and Lavender commandeer the Gryffindor girls' bathroom for makeovers and getting ready. They drag Padma, Harry, Millicent, Neville Longbottom, Luna, Seamus Finnegan, and Dean Thomas into the room, helping people choose outfits, do their hair, and apply makeup. It's a wonderful party of sorts, with everyone getting along and gossiping.

Blaise Zabini shows up at the door to the common room when everyone's done. "I'm here for my date and our chaperone," he says to Luna and Padma, who smiles as she takes in his traditional red Syrian robes, inherited from his mother's side. She and Luna are likewise dressed in traditional clothing, her in a blue and gold  _sari_ and Luna in a silver and white  _shalwar kameez._

Luna smiles at Blaise. "You are more beautiful than a thousand  _byangomas_ ," she says, and though Blaise's expression barely shifts Padma recognizes the delight in his eyes.

-

One time, Padma asks Blaise about the obviously handmade leather bracelet he wears around his left wrist.

“Luna made it for me,” he says, voice going soft, and Padma smiles.

"You are a softie, Zabini," she says, "But don't worry about it being a slight on your honor- it's a good thing."  

"If you say so, Patil."

-

Lavender and Parvati make out in the middle of the Great Hall, Harry and Millicent kiss in dim hallways, and Luna and Blaise don't kiss at all. They barely touch hands, and even then only to exchange small gifts and books they like.

“It's a matter of respect,” Blaise explains to Padma when he notices her curious gaze one day. “We’re not going to kiss until marriage."

"Interesting," she says, "But I appreciate that."

Padma's not oblivious, though- she can tell that Luna and Blaise love each other with an adolescent sort of crush, their betrothal not just an arrangement to them but a promise of something more. And she knows that they are her best friends, as well.

Luna and Blaise have been a quiet partnership for ages, spending afternoons in the library or the astronomy tower, and Padma just ends up sliding right in there, a puzzle piece they didn't know was missing.

Padma listens to Luna's stories about Nargles and Gulping Plimpies and Blaise's complaints about Slytherins and tales about his mother (Padma's never entirely sure how many of those stories are made up or not). In return, Luna makes Padma and Blaise bracelets and Blaise teaches them how to play chess and helps them practice spells after classes everyday.  
  
-

Parvati’s mother taught her about the meaning of cycles, about how beginnings become ends and the reason why their family crest is the serpent devouring its own tail.

“ _Makaḷ_ ,” her mother told her once as a child, “You are to be the next Lady Patil-Chopra. You should learn the lessons that our ancestors learned, that we ourselves have had to learn as their descendants. Loyalty will never steer you wrong. Neither will faith. Believe in yourself, believe in your sister, and believe in your friends."

There is an old Korean woman who lives in Hogsmeade, who tells tales of circuses and wars in the far-flung Harlem of 1920s America. She is white-haired, eyes crow-footed. Her name is Gyuri Tran, and she met Credence Barebone himself, and she has seen so much.

Some days, Parvati ends up on her front porch with a mug of tea in her hands. She sits there and listens to Gyuri's old words, her stories of adventures and her lessons about magic and mayhem. Sometimes Parvati brings Harry and Millicent, sometimes Lavender and Padma, sometimes Padma's Luna and Blaise. Luna and Harry appreciate Gyuri's stories most, with Luna attaching herself to the storytelling style of Gyuri while Harry listens intently to her tales of the past.

Gyuri reminds Parvati of her mother's old lessons, of the stories she told Parvati as a child. She and the snake-tattoo still slithering around her ankle reminds Parvati of old tales, of the story of the serpentine  _naga_  and their heavenly symbolism.  
  
-

Blaise and Padma are both invited to the Slug Club Holiday Party, and they jointly claim Luna as their plus-one. It's worth it to see the way her smile shines like the baubles lining her hijab do under the candlelights, to be able to dance with her under the tealights.

Around Blaise and Padma's necks glint seashell necklaces that Luna made them.  
  
-

The night before graduation, everyone crowds into the Room of Requirement, told to them last year by a friendly house elf.

Luna, Padma, and Blaise spread out on a large, soft bean-bag style bed, Padma carefully placed between the two betrothed. Harry and Millicent are cuddling on the loveseat, and Lavender and Parvati are curled up on the armchair by the fireplace.

"Here's to plenty of luck after graduation," Parvati says, hefting a glass of firewhiskey.

Luna and Blaise raise glasses of pumpkin juice, abstaining from alcohol, and the rest of them raise their glasses of firewhiskey.

"To the future," Harry says, smiling at his girlfriend, and Millicent smiles at him.

"To all of us," Padma agrees, and they all clink glasses.

-

After they graduate, Luna, Blaise, and Padma get a flat in Hogsmeade, just down the street from Madame Puddifoot's. They have two rooms between them, with a rotating schedule as to which of them end up in the queen bed in the master bedroom or one of the twin beds in the second bedroom.

Sometimes, though, when Padma's work for her apprenticeship to Madame Pomfrey (she is one of two currently under the apprenticeship- Dean Thomas is the other) gets too much, she falls asleep on the couch and wakes up to find a blanket draped over her. She's never sure whether it's Blaise or Luna, but she appreciates it nonetheless.

Parvati and Lavender, on the other hand, move to a second-floor flat in Muggle London, where they open up a beauty salon on the bottom floor.

Parvati attends to her duties as Lady Patil-Chopra while Lavender runs the beauty salon, catering to both Muggles and wizards alike. Parvati drops by as often as possible, telling fortunes when there, helping out Lavender with her clients. It's rather relaxing, to be honest, getting to help out and just do the small things, like painting nails and styling hair.

(However, her role as Lady Patil-Chopra can sometimes be just as satisfying. When she sees Draco Malfoy in the Wizengamot, she revels in the power she has to crush his small-minded policies,to maneuver his proposals into the bin where they belong.)

Lavender, in exchange, helps Parvati out with her work as Lady Patil-Chopra when things get really intense. Although she is not as politically adept as Parvati is, she has an eye for people and learning the stories behind them. She's rather good at learning information about people's backstories and learning the ways in which Parvati can best help or hinder others, based on whatever her priorities are in the situation. 

Harry and Millicent drop by both flats regularly, in between Harry's tutoring sessions to fulfill the hours necessary for his teaching license so that he can teach at Hogwarts and Millicent's apprenticeship at the Department of Mysteries. They themselves live in Grimmauld Place, gifted to Harry by his godfather, freed from Azkaban their fifth year.

Life for all of them is pretty good.

-

When Blaise and Luna get married, the whole crew is there, Padma and Millicent and Harry and Parvati and Lavender sharing seats with high-ranking Slytherins.

Padma gets the first dance with them after the traditional ones with each other and with their parents. She twirls between them, her  _nivi-_ draped  _sari_ flaring out around her body as she moves.

The three of them return to their flat and the first night sees Blaise and Luna in the master bedroom, and a number of nights after that as well. They  _are_ married now, after all, and that connotes plenty of sexual relations. 

Some nights, though, find Padma in bed with them, pulled into a cuddle pile. Blaise and Luna layer friendly kisses into her hair and listen to her tangents on the theories behind potions and charms with smiles on their lips, and she takes care of them in turn, holding them on bad days and listening to them on good.

(Though Padma is not in love with Blaise or Luna, does not want to kiss or have sex with either of them, does not carry any jealousy over their relationship with each other, she does love them. They are her best friends, her platonic life partners.)

-

They meet up with Parvati, Lavender, Harry, and Millicent every other Wednesday night at  _Bedis'_ , a cafe run by an immigrant couple from Pakistan, a Squib woman and her Muggle husband. They trade tales of politics and Muggles, charms and potions, healing and gossip.

They've made good lives for themselves, the outcasts and the misunderstood.

When Harry kisses his wife's cheek, when Padma and Luna laugh at one of Blaise's  jokes, when Lavender and Parvati entwine fingers with nails varnished the same colors, Parvati smiles.

There are cycles, and she hopes that they have begun a good one.


End file.
